1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc drive suspension incorporated in an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 14 shows a part of a hard disc drive (HDD). This disc drive comprises suspensions 3 and actuator arms 4 on which the suspensions 3 are mounted, individually. Each suspension 3 supports a magnetic head portion 2 for recording on or reading information from the recording surface of a disc 1 for use as a recording medium. The actuator arms 4 can be turned around a shaft (not shown) by means of a positioning motor (not shown).
Each suspension 3 is provided with a base plate 5, a load beam 6 extending from the base plate 5 toward the head portion 2, a flexure 7, etc. A proximal portion 6a of the load beam 6 is lapped and fixed on one surface 5a of the base plate 5 with respect to its thickness direction. The flexure 7 is fixed on the load beam 6 by laser welding. A slider 8 that constitutes the head portion 2 is mounted on the distal end portion of the flexure 7.
The flexure 7 that is provided with a wiring portion that extends along the load beam 6 from the head portion 2 toward the base plate 5. An end portion of the flexure 7 is fixed to an extending portion (not shown) that projects sideways from the proximal portion 6a of the load beam 6. External lead wires are connected (or bonded) to electrode pads on the end portion of the flexure 7.
As a means of fixing the base plate 5 on the actuator arm 4, a boss portion is proposed such that it is caulked on the base plate 5, as shown in FIG. 14. More specifically, a support jig (not shown) is inserted into the respective base plates 5 of each two adjacent suspensions 3, and the boss portion of each base plate 5 supported by means of the support jig is caulked.
In a suspension proposed as an alternative form, a proximal portion 6a of a load beam 6 is lapped and fixed on the other surface 5b of a base plate 5. In the case of the suspension of this type, the proximal portion 6a of the load beam 6 may be also provided with an extending portion on which an end portion of a wired flexure 7 is fixed.
If the extending portion and the proximal portion 6a of the load beam 6 are flush with each other, however, the end portion of the wired flexure that is fixed on the extending portion inevitably projects outward in the thickness direction of the base plate 5. Thus, there is a danger of the support jig interfering with the end portion of the flexure.